It appears that for his 26th birthday, Ms. Laila Rutquist performed a numerical and astrological reading on professional bantamweight boxer Pete Sanstol. (Was she a relative -- likely the wife -- of Arne Rutquist, the Canadian general manager of the Swedish-American Steamship Lines at this time?) In his journal Pete made an entry in English rather than Norwegian (which is rare), dated March 27, 1931 -- the day before his birthday. It reads:

Your chief characteristics are energy and activity. You are a natural leader, and should never work under orders; if you do, you are apt to lose your initiative. Being executive, you should plan your activities and procure the help of others to follow them out. Unless you receive quick cooperation on a project and the immediate carrying out of plans, you may lose your zeal over it. You are idealistic to a degree and have remarkable powers of perception. You are, however, apt to build many mental castles.

Your over-enthusiasm on most things may cause you to become intolerant of others and therefore you are inclined to become independent and aggressive. You should curb this attitude, otherwise you may, by your own actions, lose out on the big things of life. Be discreet and not too outspoken. Your message in life is to inspire and lead. Be diplomatic at all times and practice self-control. You are essentially one who will fight, if necessary, for your rights. You are clever, ingenious and shrewd.

When you are mentally fatigued or worried, go away alone and walk in the outdoors, even if only for a few moments. You will find this treatment a most helpful tonic, as the sign under which you were born has affinity with the outdoors.

Being highly intuitive, you must exercise care in analyzing your reactions after first meeting people. Be sure you are not wholly guided by the mental faculties minus feeling, and that you are not bigoted. You are a most loyal friend, and are very apt to overlook, almost to your own detriment, faults in those whom you love.

Whenever possible, select spacious living and working quarters and have plenty of light and air. Never attempt to live in a depressing atmosphere, or associate with people who are antagonistic. You require perfect harmony at all times to be happy and do your best work.

The diseases to which you are most susceptible are those which affect the head and face, and the nervous system and its dependencies. You should never overwork mentally.

Occupations for which you are best fitted and in which you should gain greatest success are: athlete, soldier, writer of instructive literature or short stories, the medical profession as surgeon, designer, executive, organizer, promoter of large schemes, or lectures. You are also an excellent character reader.

[Whether he innately possessed these traits or was influenced by such readings -- or both -- this description and prediction of young Pete Sanstol's life is eerily accurate, as we shall discover.]

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Meanwhile, the National Boxing Association had rated Pete the No. 1 challenger for Brown's NBA crown, as had a consensus of sports writers - according to contemporary sources we possess. For almost a year Al Brown had been knocking out opponents right and left. Yet, for many of these fights, he weighed over the bantam limit of 118 pounds. During some fights he weighed up to 128 pounds! Some contemporary boxing pundits doubted Brown could make the bantam weight any more. Also, time to defend the title was running out for Mr. Brown. His NBA bantam title was in jeopardy; the time restriction within which he was required to defend the title was expiring. So was the time restriction for his New York State Athletic Commission crown.

Meanwhile, Number One Contender Pete Sanstol made repeated challenges for Brown's world bantam crown. At this time Montreal, where Pete was now living, was fast becoming the home of professional bantamweight boxing due to its having done more than any other city to promote it. Even the president of the National Boxing Association was soon to acknowledge, "I consider Montreal the logical bantamweight capital of the world." (Both the Montreal Athletic Commission and the Canadian Boxing Federation were affiliated with the New York State Athletic Commission. They all exchanged and recognized each other's rulings.) And Montreal, being predominantly French, held Brown in high esteem as he was extremely popular in France. But he just would not risk his crown against Pete Sanstol.

Armand Vincent, a Montreal sports promoter, had managed to sign Pete to fight another top-rated bantam, Archie Bell. Ever since early 1927 Brooklyn's Archie Bell was considered a top contender for the vacant bantam championship, along with Bud Taylor and Tony Canzoneri. He suffered a setback when Italian Bantamweight Champion Kid Francis defeated him December 1, 1927. But he left Francis with a bad cut over one eye that seemed to take forever to heal -- an ominous sign -- then climbed back into contention. Byy May 1931 he was sometimes rated the Number One Contender in front of Pete; but most "official" rankings listed Pete before Bell. (Bell made the cover of The Ring's November 1927 issue.) Vincent's plan was that the winner of the Bell-Sanstol bout would establish once and for all who would challenge Brown for the title.

In 1935 some Norwegian newspapers published articles looking back on Pete's career. Although they have not yet been fully translated, they apparently say that the Sanstol-Bell fight was the culmination of an officially-sanctioned bantamweight elimination tournament, with Pete having earned a spot due to his earlier defeats over such boxers as Joe Scalfaro, Harry Hill, Phil Tobias and Bobby Leitham. "Godbout satte alle kluter til og fikk p?virket Montreal bokse-kommisjon til ? igangsette en elimineringsturnering for verdensmesterskapet i bantam." This certainly seems to be the case.

But Brown refused to risk his precious crown against either fighter. The man who had once promised to defend his title against all comers was refusing to face the legitimate Number One Contender!

The Athletic Commission of Montreal, exasperated by Brown's adamant refusal to meet the winner of the Sanstol-Bell fight, and some boxing fans believing that Brown was "hiding out" in Europe to fight "soft opponents" and featherweights instead, decided to stage a world title bout anyway. They designated the Sanstol-Bell fight a world title contest. Brown was not happy and threatened to sue. Just who indeed would be recognized as the "true" world champion was headed toward a heightened frenzy.